I remember a popular song years ago called “Someone’s knocking at the door….open the door, let him in!” As followers of Jesus, we believe that in a very real sense, every hour is an hour of the Lord’s coming and knocking at the door of our souls. Hopefully our response will be to let Him in. Isn’t it a fact that more often than not, we are just not prepared to let Him in; either because our minds are someplace else, or we actually choose not to hear Him knocking? But the Lord chooses to keep knocking even then because of His burning love for us.  He comes to us in those we meet, in the circumstances of our daily lives, and in the signs of our times. The Lord never gives up on us even if we can’t hear the knocking, or choose not to hear it. When we prepare ourselves through prayer each day to be open to the knocking and letting Him in, something special happens to us.  We call this special time of opening to God a Holy Moment. A Holy Moment brings with it a great sense of happiness and deepened faith. A Holy Moment is a single moment in which you open yourself to God. You make yourself available to Him. You set aside personal preference and self-interest, and for one moment you do what you prayerfully believe God is calling you to do. Again, the only way we can be prepared to have a Holy Moment is through prayer and having a peaceful soul.  I will give you a recent example from my own experience. I was planning to go to Boston to visit my Franciscan brothers on Wednesday. Something inside told me to call them to let them know I was coming on that day, when they informed me to come instead on Tuesday because it was a special community feast day.  Now this simple change of schedule may seem like a small thing, but I do believe that the Lord was knocking at my door to inform me that He wanted me to make that call first. I realized that He wanted me to be more part of our community celebration and not feel left out. I am glad I did hear that Holy Moment because not only was it a happy gathering, but the meal was excellent! As I reflect on this, truly it was a Holy Moment. In the Scriptures this weekend, there are good examples of Holy Moments of hearing God’s knocking: in the reading from Wisdom, the people hear God knocking on the night of Passover. That saves their lives. In the reading from Hebrews, Abraham hears God knocking when he was called to go out to a place to receive a new inheritance. Thus, he saves the people from destruction. In the gospel, Jesus teaches about the “faithful and prudent steward” who was ready to receive the master when He came knocking at the door. Are you listening today for God’s many attempts to knock at the door of your soul, to make your life happier and holier?    ~Fr. John